Rom 16:19

Morning Meditation 1/31/16

Our text this morning says: "For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.”

The word “obedience” (hupakoe) means “obedience rendered to anyone's counsels, an obedience shown in observing the requirements of Christianity.” This is Strong’s definition.. The words “is come abroad” (aphikneomai) mean “to come from a place.” It is an aorist middle indicative verb. The aorist tense means that it is referring to the event of it. The middle voice means that it is spreading of itself. This means that no one is commissioned to go out and speak of their obedience. When you find a church that is obedient to the Lord it has its own way of discovery. It seems today that there is more time spent in the pulpit exalting one another than should be. The pastor of the church in Rome is not even mentioned by Paul. I wonder if this dear pastor felt offended? He had to be obedient himself because the local church is a reflection of the pastor’s teaching and leadership. The words “unto all men” signify the extent of the influence of this church. Rome was the hub of the world of that day. So, this church was not in the catacombs at the time. And it wasn’t in some obscure place in Rome. This would suggest that you could not go to Rome without learning about this new faith. And this faith was affecting the lives of those who professed it. They were obedient.

Do you get the idea that this verse in its setting is describing a condition that is not observable in our world today? I’m not saying it does not exist. When there is a large church I hear more about the accomplishments of a man than of the church. The success of the modern church is associated with the name of a man. I could call a few names and all would immediately agree. But it is not my purpose to become negative or to expose or take away from the reputation of a man. It is my purpose to expose a flaw in the way we think today.

The Church’s obedience had spread. “For your obedience in come abroad unto all men...” This obedience means that the people in the church were obedient to what they heard. This is not just philosophical. Some of the other religions of that day no doubt had some very good ideas about moral behavior. The difference is that in the beginning people actually practiced what they believed. And they did it by obedience to the divine revelation. When God said it ought to be done a certain way, they just began doing it that way.

Obedience is where the rubber meets the road on cross bearing. No man bears his cross who favors his feelings when it comes to obedience to the Word of God. God knows best about every situation in life. Whether it is with reference to the work of the Church or dealing with personal problems in our individual lives, God knows best. Often obedience to the Scripture is death to our personal feelings. It is death to how we think of it. But those of us who favor our feelings over strict obedience to the Word of God are assuming to know more about the situation than God. That’s a definite no no. Faith says “God knows best and to do what He says in every given situation is the only right thing to do.” Now a statement like this will get a loud amen as long as our obedience at the present time is not causing pain. Obedience causes pain. And I do not like pain. We can spare our feelings but not without disobedience. The Church in Rome had a reputation for the actual practice of what they believed. What a coveted reputation!

In the recent organization service of the “Life in Him Baptist Church” in Guatemala City, a man who was a leader in the mission had a small part in the organizational services. This man’s family had hardly ever seen this husband and father weep. But he had a sinus infection that was so bad that he wept for pain. We wondered if this brother would be able to attend the organization services. When we arrived on Sunday morning Bro. Dan told me that this man was upstairs lying down in a Sunday School room waiting for the services to start. When the time came, he came and attended the services, took his part on the program and stayed for preaching. He didn’t stay for lunch! I believe that was ok, don’t you. There is what I call a light song that is sung at Shady Grove Baptist Church every once-in-a-while that helps to illustrate the point. The song tells about a kid with a runny nose and the whole family staying home “to wipe that poor kid’s nose!”

Obedience is the word that describes cross bearing. The Bible definitely teaches that we should bear our cross daily. Well, Jesus is not talking about going out and making a cross of wood and carrying it around all day. He meant that to follow Him would not be easy. It would be death to self and would be painful. We as Christains are pilgrims from another world. We are moving toward the rapture and an eternity with Him. Our obedience is the test of our faith. Please pray for me that I will be willing to obey the Word when it hurts as well as when it doesn’t.

May the Lord bless these words to our heart.

In Christ

Earl White